A Dead Space 4 game is something fans have been yearning for ever since the third mainline installment was released over ten years ago. Of course, the closure of Visceral Games in October 2017 while they were making the Star Wars project codenamed Ragtag threw a big wrench into those plans, but the remake of the first game released by Motive Studios in early 2023 certainly rekindled hopes – at least until the sales, despite a solid critical reception, turned out to be too low, and publisher EA decided to put the IP back on the shelf.
Interestingly, in a video interview with YouTuber Dan Allen Gaming, three of the original franchise creators (Bret Robbins, Glen Schofield, and Christopher Stone) revealed that they actually pitched Dead Space 4 to Electronic Arts in 2024. Needless to say, they weren’t successful.
Glen Schofield: We tried, actually, you know, the three of us, for Dead Space 4. I mean, we’re talking this year. We didn’t go too deep; they just said we’re not interested right now, we appreciate it, blah blah blah. We know who to talk to, so we didn’t go and take it any further, and we respected their opinion. They know their numbers and what they have to ship and all that, so yeah.
Christopher Stone: The industry is in a weird place right now, and people are really hesitant to take chances on things, so you got to, you know, take it with a grain of salt. Who knows, maybe one day. I think we’d all love to do Dead Space 4.
Glen Schofield: Yeah. We got some ideas.
It is likely that they pitched it too soon to Electronic Arts following the unsuccessful release of the remake. The trio tried anyway because they were all free at the time, following their own games that didn’t go as well as planned. Bret Robbins was the founder of Ascendant Studios and Game Director on Immortals of Aveum, which flopped hard, leading to massive layoffs at the studio. Glen Schofield and Christopher Stone were Game Director and Chief Creative Officer at Striking Distance Studios on The Callisto Protocol, which was also highly unsuccessful compared to its budget.
Now, all three have new jobs. This September, Bret Robbins joined Absurd Ventures, the new studio created in 2021 by Rockstar’s Dan Houser, as Game Director on an unannounced project. Christopher Stone became Studio General Manager of VOID Interactive, the developer behind the tactical FPS game Ready or Not, in August. And Schofield? Here’s what he said in the video interview:
I have been working on a smaller project. We’re trying to get funding right now. It’s a pretty exciting project. It’s smaller, and I’m not directing; I’m going to be executive producing it. When you hear what it’s about, if we get the funding, you’ll understand. It’s something kind of special for me.
It sounds like it will be some time before the trio are ready to pitch Dead Space 4 again. Fans might want to prepare for a long wait, but at least they still intend to make it at some point – EA willing, of course.
